Anyone starting to think this isn't the "right" answer/tool?

[Kelleylu 34]

I went to my pre surgery class today. Listened to all if the Do' and don'ts. And I can't shake this nagging feeling that this isn't how are bodies are meant to be treated. Of course our bodies aren't meant to carry 350 lbs either and mine is doing it everyday. Idk. My head can't get past the idea that chopping off half my stomach to quit overeating is barbaric and someday I'll regret it.

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[kimberb 323]

I haven't been approved for the classes yet. But I sometimes think that way. I keep reminding myself that for now I just want the chance to research my options. To keep an open mind. My step daughter is 16 months post op and my sister-in-law is 4 months. They have done amazing.

Give yourself time to take in all the info before you try to decide.

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[Christinamo7 4,042]

a lot of people expressed to me dismay over cutting out a "perfectly healthy organ" but to me my system was not perfectly healthy. I was hungry all the time. it would take me 3 or 4 times the amount of food I should have been eating just to feel satisfied. I don't know - in time, science may reveal causes of obesity - but in the mean time I have to live and be as healthy as I can. the surgery gave me that

now my diabetes is GONE. and a normal child size portion satisfies me. completely satisfied. with a normal amount of food. I have never lost the weight before, and it feels wonderful all the changes in my body.

I can't say if it is right for you, but most of us only feel like we should have done it sooner. Keep searching your heart and see whether you are ready for this or not.

[gina171 626]

Oh geez, I don't know exactly what to tell you. At my pre-surgery class (a week before my surgery on August 18), I was literally gleeful. If the surgeon had opened the door to our meeting room and said he had a last minute surgery cancellation for that afternoon, I would have leapt out of my chair and run to him.

But I am 49, and my BMI was 50, and I have spent my whole life feeling like I was hidden deep inside this body that did not match my soul. I was not only emotionally weary, I was becoming physically weary as well.

Maybe you don't feel this way? Maybe obesity has been a recent change in your life? I don't want to tell you to reconsider, but you seem to have some real reservations that you should at least wade through fully. Do you have a therapist you could reach out to?

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[Babbs 14,681]

Isn't medical science amazing?

When we have a blocked artery, we can have the artery opened up with a stent or balloon with heart surgery.

When a woman laboring is having problems delivering, putting her and her baby's life in danger, she can have a c-cection.

When we get cancer, we can have helpful but toxic drugs pumped through our bodies to fight it and hopefully put it in remission.

When we've tried every diet under the sun and completely screwed our metabolisms up, or we have physical issues that make it almost impossible to lose or keep weight off, we can have bariatric surgery.

No, medical intervention isn't always the way it's "meant" to be, but sometimes it's necessary.

[Dub 9,922]

Isn't medical science amazing?

When we have a blocked artery, we can have the artery opened up with a stent or balloon with heart surgery.

When a woman laboring is having problems delivering, putting her and her baby's life in danger, she can have a c-cection.

When we get cancer, we can have helpful but toxic drugs pumped through our bodies to fight it and hopefully put it in remission.

When we've tried every diet under the sun and completely screwed our metabolisms up, or we have physical issues that make it almost impossible to lose or keep weight off, we can have bariatric surgery.

No, medical intervention isn't always the way it's "meant" to be, but sometimes it's necessary.

Cosmic Fist Pump to this post !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So damn glad I listened several months ago and had my sleeve.

Life is now able......and meant.......to be lived !!!!

[Healthy_life2 8,324]

@@Kelleylu

It's pretty normal to get cold feet and question a surgical procedure. No need to rush your decision. Continue to do your research. I hope you find what is right for you.

[Ragdollorchid 128]

There is a war began being waged against maintaining a healthy weight. Fast food on every corner, pumpkin spice whatever they are, well-meaning co-workers who bring in doughnuts and Cookies for the break room. I'm thinking of the sleeve as my shield and sword to fight my battle. Yes I'm anxious at times. I chose my surgery date today and shared my nervous thoughts with the surgeon. It is a big decision. As others have said, take your time. I started my thought process on this a year ago. Good luck to you in your decision.

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[KristenLe 5,979]

@@Babbs said it so well! There's many surgical procedures that help eliminate or treat diseases - why is this any different. I don't think there's anything barbaric about WLS. It's not only about not overeating for many of us too - I couldn't lose 150lbs of excess weight by only eating less. I've tried many times and any weight lost has been found - with some extra passengers on board!

[vegbeth 79]

You know I've had the same thoughts and still don't know what I'm going to do. I have been steadily loosing weight since I had my first consultation, over 50 lbs. I'm still waiting for a surgery date after my sleep study is completed. I wonder am I doing this for the right reasons? I usually can loose weight, though I'm hungry all the time, like right now. But I have a terrible time keeping it off. Is this surgery a good tool to help you keep the weight off? Plus honestly I've never been able to get to my goal weight. Will this really help me loose that extra 50lbs. I'm still over 80 pounds overweight. And now I feel like I'm just about to fall off the diet wagon again....

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[Ragdollorchid 128]

Congratulations on the 50 lb. loss. That is excellent. Good luck with your decision.

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[blizair09 3,250]

I know EXACTLY how you feel, and I have pondered the very same thought over and over again during the past six months.

As much as I would love to save my stomach and keep it intact, I know that I have to have this surgery. By the time of my surgery in 3 weeks, I will have lost 100 pounds, but the truth is that I need to lose at least 100 more pounds and really like 120 more pounds if I want to beat this weight problem once and for all. The surgery will anchor the second half of the weight transformation, and most importantly, help position me for lifetime maintenance. I'm as scared as f**k, but it is time to man up and do this.

But again, I understand how you feel. Only you can make the decision that is right for you. All my best wishes!

[ocgirl15 667]

@@Babbs said it perfect!

So did you... People are not meant to be obese. Our society is not going change anytime soon. We have to change ourselves mentally and physically. The diets didn't work did they? Same here so many diets so much loss and regain. So unhealthy! Medicine has given us an option and get healthy, active and happy. It has given us a way to live longer and actually enjoy our quality of life. I am talking real life..... Not what your doing now. Imagine less pain, less prescriptions, mor energy that seems endless. This surgery has changed me in profound way! I am healthier, sexier, younger looking, more confident, more social, a better and more involved parent, more active, and I think better. I am sharper now than I was in my 20s. Loosing weight made me a better computer programmer! Weird but true! Not to mention I am now a normal BMI.

Absolutely no negatives or regrets. But that is hindsight. I am 9 months out. Did I worry and this was too extreme in the beginning... You bet I did! Who lets someone remove 80% of their stomach. I had those thoughts until the day surgery. I kept researching, thinking about what ifs, working the pros and cons in my head and then took a leap of faith. What a journey, what a ride, not always easy but for me it was the right choice.

[KristenLe 5,979]

@@vegbeth Surgery will help you to eat less without being hungry (satisfied with smaller portions - and the "hunger hormone" is reduced drastically with the Sleeve for sometime). However - surgery is only a tool - we still need to do the work and change our eating habits. Many can lose - maintaining that loss is very difficult. In fact, only 5% of people who lose on their own are able to keep that weight off. That's not great odds. Continue to do research before you decide as it is a very personal decision only you can make. Therapy may not be a bad idea either. Good luck!

[theantichick 2,204]

I hadn't seen my therapist (food issues) since a week or so before the surgery, so we caught up in our session last night. She is not a proponent of WLS, but doesn't push her own agenda and is supportive to me. Here's my spare change on the matter (and pretty much what I shared with her):

We are learning so much about weight gain and loss, and I hope that for my daughter's generation they have non-surgical options that work. Surgery is certainly a drastic treatment, especially when it involves removing a large part of a working organ.

BUT.

Right now, we know surgery does some very specific things that provide a better place for getting to and staying at a healthy weight, and it's not duplicatable by other means.

Especially with my comorbidities and auto-immune arthritis, I have less than the statistical 5% chance of losing the weight through non-surgical means and keeping it off long term. I have been dieting for over 30 years, and I'm heavier now than I ever was, and with the auto-immune disorder, I no longer have the stamina to diet, period (which was probably the best thing I ever did, but I'd already topped 300 lbs before I stopped dieting).

My life and relationship with food is SO much different now than it was 3 weeks ago. While I'm still struggling to get enough food in because of the restriction (but I'm only 3 weeks out, and I see it getting better every day, so it's fine), it's so much more than the restriction.

I used to binge eat comfort foods: honey Buns and chocolate fudge poptarts were my nemisis, but anything with loads of sugar, salt, and fat were game. I didn't think it was that unhealthy because they weren't HUGE binges, and I've never purged. Just overeating to a way unhealthy point. Looking back, it absolutely was bingeing behavior. And if I went shopping, it was pulling teeth to make myself NOT put those things in the cart.

Went shopping the day I got cleared for soft foods with hubby. Walked past the Little Debbie display. Part of my brain went "ooooh, Little Debbies counts as 'soft' I want honey buns". Then the part of my brain that imagined eating a honey bun went "eh. doesn't sound that good, actually. I want Peanut Butter." Walked away, easy peasy. Repeat experience in the Breakfast aisle with poptarts. Though the fruit poptarts had a bit of appeal, I easily recognized that my body might want some fruit, and I have many ways to get that without all the sugar and fat that goes with poptarts, and that actually sounded better.

It's like a switch went off in my brain and while I'm still having the disordered eating thoughts, it's incredibly clear to me that those thoughts don't fit. And with those thoughts calming down and shutting up, it's like I can hear what my body really wants for the first time.

Combine that with the fact I'm forced to slow down my eating and chew food thoroughly (I used to wolf it down), and eat several small meals a day.... this feels like the way I should have been eating my whole life. In fact, when I was the healthiest I was pregnant and had to eat small Protein meals every 3-3.5 hours to avoid nausea.

I was sharing this with my therapist, and said "I know it was a really drastic way to get to this point, but I really feel like this is the right place for me to be in with food" and she had to admit that where I'm at right now is the goal of therapy around food issues, though she also agreed with the "very drastic" comment as well. LOL.

I don't know if this will last forever. But if it can last long enough for me to establish healthy eating patterns and learn to really listen to my body, it's SO worth it.

So for my case... drastic? Yep. And I think I'd have gotten here eventually through therapy - but it could easily have taken YEARS. This way? 3 weeks. I'm already seeing improvements in my medical conditions as well. Small, but definitely there.

I'm a nurse, and one of the things that is hammered home to us about medical treatments - every treatment has benefits and risks/side effects. If the benefits don't outweigh the risks/side effects, then the treatment is not the best choice. Here, besides some of the complications that may or may not happen, the risk/side effect is losing part of a functioning organ. But the benefits for many of us far, far outweigh the risks/side effects. Ultimately, you have to make that evaluation for yourself and your situation.

For me, there's just no question. It's premature to say "best thing I ever did for my health" at only 3 weeks out, but that's seriously how I feel.